Blanket of Skeemotah
by Fleimkepa
Summary: A little drabble past the finale; Dagny finding her way and learning about her mom with the help of her sister and the Happy Sunshine Gang. (Fluffy) (Happy Ending)
1. Dagny

" _You look after her for me, okay?"_

" _I promise that I will do everything I can to protect her."_

" _Don't cry for me, for valkyries in our last life it's not called dying... It's called rising."  
_

* * *

She's six the first time she asks about her mama; she had caught words from the school, another fight in the lunch hall and a bruise in early bloom beneath her eye. Kenzi gave her the quiet glare she'd mastered over the early years in the rear-view mirror as they drove and Dagny knew there would be more words when they got home about using her doubt outside of the house.

"Am I like my mommy?" Dagny eyed her in that way, the greens of her eyes as familiar as they ever were.

"What?"

"My mommy," she repeated, inching a little closer between the gap of the front seats. "Was she like me before she went away?"

"Exactly like you," she kept her eyes glued to the winding road and exhaled that deep breath that ached the most bottom parts of her chest. "If she'd have seen you today, saw that bruise on your eye," Kenzi shook her head, looked to the roof of the car and back to the road and breathed again, and Dagny lowered her head and waited for more words about how bad she'd been.

"She would be so, so proud of you." Kenzi swallowed, "Don't get me wrong, she'd have kicked your little butt, but she'd have been so proud of you, your mommy was the toughest girl I ever knew, Lil' D."

* * *

She's eight the first time she watches the videos Kenzi had tucked away in the basement, they're charred and some of them are beyond repair, one of the few things salvaged from the club house she'd heard so much about.

She's methodical and careful and she doesn't quite understand why. The VCR takes the tape and for a moment she contemplates turning the TV off and running upstairs, but it's too late, she's there and alive and on the screen.

"Dyson, you better get that thing out of my face before I shove it where the sun doesn't shine." she eyed the camera, crossed arms and stern eyes.

She was beautiful exactly like the pictures, she had her mother's eyes and the shape of her shoulders and she wished she was as tall. She was wearing a favourite blue-y green jacket and Dagny had the same one, it was too big for her and the sleeves hung past her hands but her jackets still smelt distinctly like her and although it wasn't much, it was enough all the same.

"Oh come on Tamsin, it's Yule, have a little Krampus spirit!" Dyson whined from the tape.

"Hey guys!" Bo called, stepping into the frame with one too many drinks.

"Hey Trouble." Tamsin eyed her, taking a drink out of her hand and necking it back. "Gross." she winced, passing back the empty paper cup.

"Lil' T, guess who brought your favorite snacks?" Dagny heard a familiar voice; Kenzi came alive on screen. She was younger and her hair was darker, she waved Cheez-Its in her mom's face and like time was folding in on itself she chewed the inside of her cheek and felt like she was there too.

"I love you, I love you, I love you!" Tamsin sighed and dove into the box. "Thank god you speak my language, Kenz."

Tamsin laughed like her sense of humor was built on a fault-line and people talked and teased her, and these were all the necessary things she needed to finally make her mom real. Dagny was enthralled by this woman, by her mother, she watched the tape and then she watched it again, she learned her lines and finally rewound to a chosen spot, settled in and felt the nerves bubble in her stomach.

She knew Kenzi wouldn't be home for another half an hour, she knew it and yet she still waited for just a moment too long just in case someone burst in and interrupted her. She found the tiny bit of spine she needed and clicked play.

"Hey Trouble!" Tamsin repeated from the tape, suspended in a moment.

"Hey Mama," Dagny cleared her throat and paused the tape, "I just wanted to say I love you."

"I love you! I love you! I love you!" Tamsin repeated once more, fast forwarded.

"I love you, Mama." Dagny smiled, and rewound.

"I love you! I love you! I love you!" the tape was paused with expert timing.

"I'm really glad I finally got to talk to you, I miss you."

* * *

The Dal is exactly how she imagined it; exactly how Kenzi told her it would be. She's fifteen and her mother's daughter, and they all see that familiar spark in her eye. It's hot and her chest burns, there's a Wolf, a Healer, a Mesmer and a Succubus too, and she knows she's home, she feels it in the old VCR tapes and the photos she'd stuck to her wall and like it was an anchor right in her gut, these people were home.

A Wolf, a Healer, a Mesmer, a Succubus and now a Valkyrie too.

"Evil is coming," Bo warns her, there's hands on her shoulders and eyes that size her up against her mother, and she knows she's not alone. 

* * *

She's fifteen and in her sister's bed. Lauren is working a late shift and so they watch old tapes and Bo gives her the director's commentary.

"She never got the chance to know me." Dagny bit her cheek and looked away from the screen.

"Are you kidding me?" Bo raised a brow, "I was there when you were born, she held you in her arms and she just, she couldn't take her eyes off of you." her eyes lit up and her hands painted the air around them, "She had you for a moment, and it wasn't enough and it never will be, but she knew you better than anyone else will ever know you, because she's your mom, Dagny." 

* * *

"You killed my mom." she whispers, suddenly sixteen and smaller than she'd been in years.

"Actually," Jack grins from his seat and wags his finger, "It was _you_ who killed her."

Her eyes flicker between shades of green and black, the room is a vacuum and her powers are infinite.

"Don't listen to him." Bo's hands grab her shoulders and try to pull her away, she shrugs them off, alive and stronger than any other. Her wings were ablaze and she felt them scorch the air. "Dagny, come on!" Bo tried again, tugging at her shoulder and dodging the blazing wings.

"Which one of you is lying?" Dagny's eyes flit, she felt a darkness creep up into her throat and it choked her from the inside-out.

"My girls," Jack laughs, and the room feels devoid. "No matter how many times, neither of you ever learn that I am the only one who ever tells you both the truth!"

"Dagny, listen to me." she feels the charms dance over her skin and it barely gives her a moment's respite. "You did not kill your mom. She knew what would happen, and she loved you anyway. You are her legacy, you are the last reminder of all the good she did in this world. Don't let him take that away from you."

"Ah, Bo." Jack shook his head and bit his lip, "Speaking of our dear departed Tamsin—do you think she did regret it the next morning? I never got a chance to ask her." his eyes lit up.

"Wh-what's he talking about?"

"—Not to blow your mind, but your mother was in love with Bo. Sad story really." he tutted and shook his head. "From that love she bore you, although, I may have had a helping hand in it." he flexed his fingers and grinned, she felt the print on her chest burn and scorch and suddenly, in a single moment of clarity, she knew.

"When I get back, you've got some explaining to do." Dagny turned and eyed her sister, nose wrinkled and scowl thick like someone they all knew from time since passed, and before any of them could catch up to her plan, she pulled the gun from Mark's holster.

There was a shot fired, right through the most essential parts of herself, the print burned and before she hit the floor Jack was already gone.

"No, no, no." Bo fell at her side, "What did you do?" she begged.

Blood blossomed and bloomed through her shirt, it was sticky and hot and there wasn't much time, this was the first of many. A baptism of fire. Acacia had warned her the first time is always the worst, she wished she was better prepared.

"The mark," she tapped where red dribbled through the jacket Lauren pressed to her chest. "Dad totally horcruxed me." she tried to laugh and it hurt. "He could never die while I was still alive."

"You say it like you're dying." Bo shook it off, her hands pressed to her little sister's cheeks. Lauren gave her the look, the little shake of the head, the apology and Bo ignored it. "I promised your mom I would always protect you." her shoulders gave way.

"You did and you will." Dagny drew shallow breaths, "God, dying sucks." 

* * *

She wakes up; and it's the closest thing to a hospital. She's somewhere between dead and alive and not quite sure which end she's closer to, but there's a hand pressed against hers, and she knows from the sticky feeling on her palm that it's been there much longer than she can dwell on.

"Hi." Tamsin smiled, nervous and lacking the bravado captured on old VCR tapes that Dagny had learned off by heart.

"You're dead." Dagny shakes her head, she says it with defiance and there's a little pause that neither dare end first. "Mama?"

"It's been a long time." she nods, and she's ethereal and beautiful in all the ways Dagny thought she would look in real life. "Don't worry, this is where all Valkyrie souls come after they die, it doesn't really have a name, it's above and between all nine of the world's. You'll be reborn soon."

"Come with me?" she tries, and she knows it's useless.

"You know I can't," she wiped her eyes and leaned in closer to her daughter with that smile they both possessed. "My daughter; look at you all grown up."

There's tears, she's sixteen and almost an adult, she's twelve and angry that her mom was never around, she's eight and curious of the woman in the VCR tapes, but she's her daughter; and so there's tears and a hand that strokes her hair and shoulders that smell like the inside of the jacket she grew up wearing and she takes it all in.

"My baby," she hums at the young girl in her arms, "You were smaller the last time we did this." there was a little laugh.

"Why couldn't you have been there." she whispers from her shoulder, her voice is raw and her throat is burning, and it sets Tamsin alight.

"I was," she promised, "I've always been there."

"It wasn't enough." her voice is bitter, and all she can do is hold her daughter.

"It'll never be enough, but it's something." she squeezed her. "I am so proud of you, being your mom was the best thing I ever did."

"They say I'm like you, Mom."

"You are the best of me, Kenzi did such a good job with you."

"I'm ready if you are." Dagny squeezed her tight, buries her nose into her shoulder and lets herself enjoy this tiniest of moments.

"I'll never be ready." Tamsin shook her head and bit away tears. "But I'll always be here." 

* * *

It's late and there's wailing cries that wake them both, it's dark and the porch light that flickers beneath their window dilutes their bedroom.

"Do you hear that?" Lauren nudges her and suddenly there's hope.

They're downstairs before they know it, and in front of the door there's a baby wrapped in a blanket woven from the sky, a letter tucked into the folds.

"Is that the blanket of Skeemotah?" Lauren urged, leaning down to bring their child inside. Bo nodded and squeezes Lauren's hand and the words dry up on her lips.

"What does the note say?" Lauren pressed, bouncing a baby in one hand and passing the letter to Bo with the other.

 _Keep looking after her for me, Bo._


	2. Tamsin

" _You look after her for me, okay?"_

" _I promise that I will do everything I can to protect her."_

" _Don't cry for me, for valkyries in our last life it's not called dying… it's called rising."_

* * *

She shouldn't be here and she knows it, like a bygone that clings and lingers, she's unseen and unheard yet there in a way they all feel. It's late and Kenzi tucks her daughter in, sits on the edge of the bed with the last chapter of their story-book and smoothes her hair down in a way Tamsin remembers from her own childhood.

"More?" Dagny eyes her with those big pools of green and somehow Kenzi resists. She's two and delicious and completely Tamsin's, from the quiet stare she's already mastered to the simmer that boils when she's told no.

"Tomorrow night, Lil' D." she kisses her head and pulls the quilt over her tiny yawning shape. "Sweet dreams, sweet girl." she smiles and the light goes off, she disappears behind the closed door, and they are alone.

Tamsin tip-toes, and for a moment she's not sure why, she's here and yet not and it's something she's not used to yet. But she takes up her watch like she does every night and waits for her youngest to fall asleep.

"Momma," Dagny calls out tiredly, little wispy blonde hairs stuck to her face as she stares in a certain direction.

"I'm here, don't you worry baby girl." Tamsin whispers and again, she's not sure why.

"Story Momma." Dagny holds her stare, and Tamsin falters.

"You can see me?" she whispers again and this time it's for her own benefit.

Dagny nods, she pats the spot beside her and Tamsin obliges without much thought. "Story?" she urges and nuzzles at her side.

"You see this blanket?" Tamsin feels the smile widen into the wetness of her cheeks with this impossible moment. "A long, long time ago there lived a king of all the Fae and he had this blanket woven from all the stars in the night sky, they called it the Blanket of Skeemotah…"

* * *

She moves freely between the worlds, she is the changing of the leaves and the sunset of a hundred skies and the air she once bended has become her.

"You're late." Hale scolds her, pushing the scotch across the bar.

"Time has no place in Valhalla, remember." Tamsin huffs, picking up her glass and eyeing him in that familiar way.

"How's our girls doing?"

"She started school today, Kenzi let her wear a tutu and put leftover pizza in her lunch box." Tamsin nurses her drink with a shake of her head and Hale laughs, it's cool and bitter in all the ways she needs and it's a tiny victory to soften the blow of an almighty loss. "She didn't see me today, didn't even know I was there..."

"Kids, they grow up fast." Hale sighs and signals to the bartender for two more drinks. "She'll always know you're there, you're her mom, she can't escape that."

"How's old Trick doing?" Tamsin changes the subject and tries to quell the screaming ache in her guts, Hale sees it in her eyes, she knows he does, but he obliges her with silence anyway and for that she's thankful.

"Ask him yourself." Trick pushes two more drinks in front of them. "How are you doing, Momma?"

"Seen better days."

* * *

She's six and long framed, her hair is wild and she's yet to grow into her gangly arms and legs, much to the amusement of the other kids. The other girl pushes her one too many times, knocks the tray right out of her hands. Blows rain from up and down and side to side; her fists are furious and fast, then out of nowhere her eyes begin to darken, and Tamsin is beaming with pride.

"That's my girl." she nudges Hale's ribs, stepping over the piled heap of the other girl to follow after her daughter who found herself being dragged to the school office. "That's my daughter." she grabs his shoulder once more and grins.

* * *

She's eight the first time she finds the old tapes in the basement, the VCR whirrs to life and for the first time Tamsin feels like she should leave and give her some privacy. But suddenly, she's on the screen and too captivated by the look in Dagny's eyes.

The tape is rewound again and again, played and paused with expert timing.

" _Hey Trouble!_ " a past version hums from the screen, stuck in a moment.

"Hi Mama." Dagny's grin widens, and it breaks her heart. "I just wanted to say, I love you."

"Dagny I'm here," she almost begs, she's at her side, hugging her and running her hand over her hair. "I am _right here_ baby girl." she promises and her words go unreturned. "I am always with you, you make me _so_ proud to be your mama."

Tears stain her cheeks and she's glad Dagny can't see them.

"I'm really glad I got to talk to you, I miss you." she whispers after a pause, right at the screen.

"I'm glad we talked to." she wiped the wet from her eyes. It wasn't much, it was barely anything and nowhere near enough, but it was something and that was good enough for her.

* * *

She's fifteen and she has her first date, Kenzi gives her the talk and brushes down the shoulders of her mom's favourite jacket and tells her about the time Tamsin wore the same one when she went on a date with the literal Ying and Yang sisters.

She paints the air around her with the story and all three of them laugh at the memory, but only two voices were heard.

Kenzi gives her a minute to finish getting ready and once again they're alone, Dagny fusses over herself in the mirror and Tamsin expertly reads the look of nerves and terror buried somewhere in the swallow of her throat.

"You look beautiful." Tamsin shakes her head and bites her lip, "Don't you ever let this girl forget how lucky she is." she whispers and all but prays her baby hears it.

She sits on the bed and fiddles with her phone, nervous and waiting for the text to say she's outside.

"Valkyries can read people; you just wait until you feel how nervous she is and you'll be just fine." Tamsin sighs, sitting beside her. "This next part is really important Dagny, you really need to listen to this bit, don't ever fall in love with a girl who wears more leather than you. They're bad news, okay?"

Her phone buzzes, and as quickly as she had her, she's out the door.

* * *

She's sixteen and coming into her powers, she finds Acacia before Acacia finds her and Tamsin knows her friends did an amazing job of hiding her daughter from harm's way.

"You look just like her." Acacia shakes her head the first time they meet. They're in Dark territory somewhere out of town, a bar that Acacia sometimes frequents when she needs to get away from Valhalla, and already she's impressed that Dagny knows this.

"Look at that wild thing I made, Caish." Tamsin's grin is wide and proud, right behind her daughter.

Acacia hears her like echoes that resonate from one plain to the next, she sees flashes of green eyes and blonde hair but she ignores her for Dagny's benefit.

"They say my mom was the best warrior," Dagny eyes her in a thoughtful and intrigued way, arms crossed and head cocked like someone who came before. "And that you trained her?"

"Your mom was the best, depending on who you ask of course." Acacia laughs and eyes an ever-jealous Stacey scowling into the back in her chair.

"If she was the best, then I want you to train me and make me even better." Dagny steps forward, determined and more like her mother than she knew.

There's a pride that simmers through her, and she knows Acacia feels it.

"Tamsin, I love her already." she chuckles at the sky, kicking out a chair for her newest ward to sit on.

"You take good care of my girl, make her better than I ever was." she leans in Acacia's ear, and she knows from the flex of her jaw and the falter of her eyes that she's heard.

* * *

"You killed my mom." she whispers, suddenly sixteen and smaller than she'd been in years.

"Actually," Jack grins from his seat and wags his finger, "It was _you_ who killed her."

Her eyes flicker between green and black, the room is a vacuum and her powers are infinite. She is more powerful than any in this room, her wings are ablaze and Tamsin is almost in awe.

"Don't listen to him," she begs her, right in her ear. "He's wrong, Dagny."

The conversation drives on and she feels Dagny's power choke the room, it's intoxicating and not yet at it's apex and there's still time to pull her back from the brink, Bo has trained her well, they all have and she has faith in her daughter.

"Speaking of our dear departed Tamsin—do you think she did regret it the next morning? I never got a chance to ask."

She feels sick, and she's not sure whether it's a symptom of herself or overflow from her daughter's churning stomach. She reaches out, a final attempt before the power consumes her from the inside out, and brushes her fingers over the glowing print. "Marking you doesn't make you his. He needs you, like a _parasite_." she tries.

A gun goes off in Dagny's hand, it's pointed at herself and red begins to bloom like a flower across her chest.

They're all around her, holding her and hollowly promising she'll be fine. And Tamsin knows they are right. This was the first of many for her daughter, but it didn't make it anywhere close to bearable.

The screech and din of their friends begins to dull, and her daughter's eyes focus and stare in a particular direction and it's time.

Tamsin grabs Acacia before she can move, her force is invisible but like an echo from one plain to another she's heard. "I'm coming out of retirement for this one, Caish."

"Mama?" Dagny barely whispers and there's blood in her mouth.

"I'm here." Tamsin promises, she kneels and shrouds her in wings made up of scattered light and they're the most beautiful things Dagny has ever seen. "I'm taking you home." she nods and Dagny barely nods back. "I never regretted it, not for a second." she quietly promises. Her daughter drifts asleep, and that's her cue.

* * *

Her daughter is tiny and newborn once more, she's ready to go back home and true to her calling Tamsin is nowhere near ready to let her go.

"I'll take her there myself." Acacia promises, waiting for her grip to loosen on the baby.

All Tamsin can do is nod, there's a sniffle somewhere that runs through her lips but she's happy none-the-less, her daughter is tiny and all is right in the world. There's a little cry, and for the first time she gets to tend to it, and she knows from the furious rubies of Dagny's cheeks to the long wailing noise from the deepest depths of her tiny belly that it was worth waiting sixteen years for.

"I'm here, don't you worry baby girl." Tamsin whispers and this time, she's more sure than anything else. "You see this blanket?" Tamsin feels the smile widen into the wetness of her cheeks with this impossible moment, wrapping her daughter in a gift from the sky. "A long, long time ago there lived a king of all the Fae and he had this blanket woven from all the stars in the night sky, they called it the Blanket of Skeemotah…"


End file.
